June is our best month for catching large ocean-run king salmon from scenic Mat-Su Valley Rivers located a 90 minute drive north of Anchorage or a 45 minute drive from Wasilla.
Our June Alaska fishing reports for 2014 from Deshka River and Little Susitna River will be posted on this page starting on the evening of June 1.
June 1 — I guided a morning group of 3 guests, 1 of whom caught a small king salmon on a Kiwikfish. Each of the other guests also had a bite — 1 on a Kwikfish and 2 of a Magnum Wiggle Wart. I suspect a couple of those bites may have been from smaller king salmon — as we saw a couple small king salmon roll.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, 1 of whom caught a small king salmon. An additional guest briefly hooked a king salmon, and also caught a jack king salmon. In addition we had one other lite bite which was not hooked. All of our bites in the afternoon were on Kwikfish. It rained during the afternoon and there were very few boats fishing the holes we were working. During the trip we saw a cow moose and her new born calf get up from their beds beside the river and saunter further back into the undergrowth. I plan to guide and report again tomorrow.
June 2 — I took Frede and 3 friends fishing this morning and two of them caught king salmon. Our largest king salmon to date (38 lbs.) was caught on a #2 Spin-n-glo. A second king salmon was caught on Kwikfish.
I guided an afternoon group of 3 guests, 2 of whom caught king salmon — one a larger fish and kept the second fish was small and released. In addition the guest who released a fish also solidly hooked, but lost a fish later in the trip and also had a couple additional bites. Of the 3 king salmon hooked, 2 were hooked on a Spin – n-Glo and 1 was hooked on a Kwikfish. I plan to guide and post again tomorrow — so check back in the evening for the latest update.
June 3 — I guided an afternoon group of 5 guests, we had wonderful sunny weather, but the salmon seemed to be very inactive in the bright sunshine, and only one guest managed to briefly hook a small fish on a kwikfish. We saw a moose and some bald eagles during the trip, but did not see any other group even hook a salmon. We did see a few fish roll, so some were in the area.
June 4 — I guided a morning group of 2 guests and although we saw several kings rolling early in the trip, all the guests managed to hook and catch was one jack king salmon that hit a Kwikfish. We saw bald eagles and a trumpeter swan during the trip.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, one of whom caught a small king salmon and also hooked and lost another king salmon. Another guest caught a rainbow trout and had another bite. A third guest had a bite but did not hook the fish, and the fourth guest fished the entire trip without getting a bite. The two king salmon were hooked on a pink Brad’s plug. The rainbow trout was caught on a Kwikfish, and the remaining two fish that were not hooked both hit Kwikfsh. During the trip we saw some bald eagles. ducks, and a muskrat.
June 5 — I took the day off and had my truck worked on. I also worked on fishing gear, and caught up on sleep.
June 6 — I guided a morning group of 4 guests, 2 of whom harvested king salmon, 1 additional guest hooked a king salmon and faught it for a while before the hook simply pulled loose. We saw quite a few king salmon at one of the spots we were fishing, but were unable to get any more to bite. Was a very enjoyable morning of fishing. I’ll be guiding and reporting again tomorrow.
June 7 — I guided a morning group of 3 guests, each or whom caught a king salmon and one of whom also caught a jack king salmon before keeping her large king salmon. 3 fish were caught on kwikfish and 1 fish was caught on a #2 Spin-n-glo. We saw several moose and a bald eagle during the morning trip.
I guided an afternoon group of 3 guests, each or whom caught a king salmon. 1 king salmon was caught on a #2 Spin -N-Glo and the other 2 king salmon were caught on kwikfish. We saw some bald eagles during the afternoon trip.
June 8, 2014 — I guided a morning group of 2 guests, 1 of whom caught a nice king salmon on a Kwikfish. We also saw a moose during the trip, and had a couple other bites, but did not hook any other fish.
I guided an afternoon group of 5 guests, 1 of whom caught a nice king salmon on a Kwikfish. The group also hooked 3 more king salmon on #2 Spin-N-Glos, but was unable to land them. During the trip we saw some bald eagles. I’ll be guiding and reporting again tomorrow.
June 9 — I guided a morning group of 4 guests, each of whom caught a king salmon. 1 king salmon was caught on a Kwikfish and 3 king salmon were caught on a Mag Lip Flatfish. It was fast action on this trip with the group catching fish in 4 different holes.
I guided an afternoon group of 3 guests, each of whom caught king salmon with one guest also catching a 2nd kign salmon, and 2 guests also caught king salmon jacks. Two of the king salmon were kept and 2 were released. The group caught 2 king salmon and 1 king salmon jack on a kwikfish and 2 king salmon and 1 king salmon jack on a Mag Lip Flatfish.
June 10 — I took a day off from guiding king salmon trips to catch up on my sleep and some work around the house. I also went king salmon fishing for several hours at Eklutna Tailrace were I caught 1 king salmon jack and 2 smaller king salmon. I kept the jack and the 2nd king salmon and released the 1st king salmon. All of the fish were caught by drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under an ESB Bobber.
June 11 — I guided a morning group of 4 guests, with only one guest having a definite bite which he was unable to hook. The river was up and a large number of king salmon had shot upriver the day before. While there were some king salmon in some of the holes we were fishing, and while we saw other anglers catch a few it was simply a gallant effort for us. My guests fished Vibrax and Flashtrap spinners, a Brad’s plug, and Kwikfish. We saw some bald eagles during the trip.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests each of whom hooked a king salmon, and 3 of whom landed and harvested a king salmon. All of the fish were hooked on Kwikfish. In addition my guests also casted Flashtrap and Vibrax Slpinners — but were unable to hook fish using the spinners. Durin the trip we saw some bald eagles.
June 12 — I guided a morning group of 3 guests, 2 of whom caught king salmon on Kwikfish. The third angler also briefly hooked a jack king salmon but he jumped and threw the hook. We saw the usual bald eagles.
I guided an afternoon group of 2 guests, each of whom caught a king salmon on Kwikfish. I’ll be guiding again tomorrow.
June 13 — I guided a morning group of 6 guests, 5 of whom caught king salmon on Kwikfish. The 6th guest fished the whole trip without a bite. There were lots of king salmon moving through the Dehska River Weir — and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game issued an emergency order that will open Deshka River to BAIT FISHING FOR KING SALMON starting at 6 a.m.. on Saturday June 14. Currently over 10,000 king salmon have swum past Deshka River weir.
I guided an afternoon group of 2 guests, who had a few bites, but we were unable to hook up any king salmon. As during the morning trip we saw several bald eagles during the trip and we also saw a few smaller salmon rolling while we were fishing. I’ll be guiding and posting fishing trip reports again tomorrow.
June 14 — I guided a morning group of 6 guests and we had a few bites and brief hookups, but all we managed to land was one jack salmon. We had bites on Kwikfish and Spin-n-glos.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, each of whom caught a king salmon. 1 fish was caught on a Kwikfish and 3 fish were caught on Mag Lip Flatfish. The group also had some bites on a Spin-n-glo and caught a jack king salmon on a Spin-n-glo. During the trip we saw one bald eagle which one of the guests pointed out to the rest of us.
June 15 — I guided a group of 5 guests in the morning, 2 of whom caught king salmon. Two king salmon was caught on Mag Lip Flatfish, but king salmon were also hooked on Spin -n-glos and Kwikfish. We had quite a bit of action, but were unable to boat the other fish. On the morning trip we also saw two moose crossing the rivers.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, each of whom caught a king salmon. King salmon were caught on Mag Lip Flatfish and Spin-N-Glos. The first guest who caught a king salmon spotted and pointed out some bald eagles.
June 16 — I guided a morning group of 4 guests, 3 of whom caught king salmon, and the remaining guest had a few bites, but only caught a jack king salmon. The fish were caught on a Mag Lip Flatfish, a Kwikfish, and a Spin – N-Glo.
I guided an afternoon group of 5 guests, 4 of whom caught king salmon. 3 of the king salmon were kept and a smaller king salmon was released. FIsh were caught on a Spin – n-glo, two different Mag Lip Flatfish.
June 17 — I guided a morning group of 4 guests, 3 of whom caught king salmon while drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under ESB Bobbers. We saw some bald eagles during the trip.
I guided an afternoon group of 6 guests, 2 of whom caught king salmon while drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under ESB Bobbers. One of the kings looked to be the largest king salmon caught on one of my charters this season. 1 guests also caught a rainbow trout. I estimated his weight at over 40 lbs. Durning the trip we saw bald eagles, and on the ride back to the landing one of the guests spotted a moose.
June 18 — I guided a morning group of 4 guests, 3 of whom caught king salmon while drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under ESB Bobbers. We saw bald eagles during the morning charter and heard a trumpeter swan calling as well.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, 2 of whom caught king salmon while drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under ESB Bobbers. We also saw bald eagles during the afternoon trip.
June 19 — I guided a morning group of 4 guests, each of whom caught a king salmon while drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under ESB Bobbers. Guest kept the two larger king salmon, but released the two fish that were just a bit to large to qualify as jack king salmon. In addition, we had a few extra bites that we were unable to convert on. The river was busy with anglers today.
June 2o — I guided a morning grouip of 6 guests who caught 2 king salmon on Fire Cured salmon roe fished under ESB Bobbers. In addition we also had a few other fish on. During the trip we saw the usual bald eagles and a moose with twin calves.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests — and although we saw a few king salmon rolling we were unable to even hook a fish. The group fished Fire Cured salmon roe under ESB Bobbers and tried casting both Flashtrap and Vibrax Spinners. We did see a number of eagles.
June 21 I fished with some friends — one of whom caught a nice-sized king salmon and a second who caught a jack king salmon. It was very wet cool and windy, so we headed back early.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, 2 of whom caught king salmon . ! of the guest harvested a nice-sized king salmon and the other guest caught and released two silver salmon sized king salmon and one jack king salmon. All of the fish were caught on Fire Cured salmon roe fished under ESB Bobbers. A wet rainy afternoon — but warmer than the morning.
June 22 — I guided a morning group of 4 guests, each of whom caught a king salmon while drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under ESB Bobbers. During the trip we saw our usual bald eagles.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, 1 of whom caught a silver salmon sized king salmon while drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under an ESB Bobber. We also tried backtrolling a Kwikfish, but although we saw king salmon rolling in a few spots we were unable to catch anymore. During the afternoon trip we saw plethora of bald eagles.
Little Susitna River — over 600 king salmon passed Little Susitna River salmon counting weir yesterday. The current count through the weir is 873 king salmon as of Saturday June 21. It will be interesting to see what the count passing the weir is for Sunday June 22 and Monday June 23 — there was a brief spike of higher water in the upper river that should trigger even more king salmon migration past the weir when it hits the lower river. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) previously closed Little Susitna River to king salmon fishing by emergency order ,” . . . through the remainder of the season or until weir counts indicate the goal will be achieved.” With the strong number of king salmon now passing the weir ADF&G should be letting the public know how many king salmon must pass the weir before the Department would be willing to reopen the fishery. You may give ADF&G a call at (907) 746-6300 to learn more.
June 23 — I guided a morning group of 4 guests, one of whom caught and kept a nice -sized king salmon, another who caught and released 5 king salmon, a third who caught 1 jack king salmon, and a fourth guest who hooked a king salmon, but lost it. 4 king salmon were hooked on Fire Cured salmon roe drifted under ESB Bobber — 2 kign salmon were hooked on Spinning Cheaters with Fire Cured salmon roe back trolled behind JEt Divers — and the jack king salmon which was caught on a kwikfish. We saw several bald eagles during the trip.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, 2 of whom caught king salmon, and another who caught a rainbow trout. All the fish were caught on Fire Cured salmon roe drifted under ESB Bobbers. During the trip we saw lots of bald eagles.
June 24 — I guided a morning group of 5 guests, 2 of whom caught nice-sized king salmon on Fire Cured salmon roe drifted under ESB Bobbers. We saw the usual bald eagles during the trip.
I guided an afternoon group of 2 guests, each of whom caught and kept small king salmon, and 1 of whom also caught and kept a jack king salmon. Two fish were caught on Fire Cured salmon roe drifted under ESB Bobbers, and one king salmon was caught on a Kwikfish. During the trip we saw several bald eagles and one bull moose with good photo opportunities for all of them. It was the first moose one of my groups has seen during a trip in quite a few days.
June 25 — I guided a morning group of 4 guests, 2 of whom caught and harvested king salmon. The other two guests had a few bites and one of them hooked, but lost 2 kign salmon. At this point it is plenty of fishing for each bite, but there are still ocean-fresh king salmon availble. We saw bald eagles and a seal during the fishing trip.
June 26 — I guided a morning group of 4 guests, each of whom caught and kept a king salmon. 1 of the guests also caught and kept a jack king salmon and caught and released a rainbow trout. All of the fish were caught by drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under ESB Bobbers.
I guided an afternoon group of 5 guests, 2 of whom caught and kept king salmon on Fire Cured salmon roe drifted under ESB Bobbers. In addition my guests also hooked and lost a couple more king salmon. We saw a few bald eagles in the afternoon, but it was a wet and cool day.
June 27 — I guided a morning group of 4 guests, 3 of whom caught king salmon while drifting Fire Cured salmon roe under ESB Bobbers. We saw the usual bald eagles during the trip. Water was rising fast and getting muddy.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, and we did not even hook a fish — the other guides I talked to that fished the afternoon had the same luck. Water was very high with lots of debris floating down. During the afternoon trip we saw some bald eagles and one of the guests spotted a moose along the river that everyone had a chance to see. I plan to guide trips and report again tomorrow.
June 28 –I guided a morning group of 4 anglers who fished hard and kept their lines in the water for the whole trip, but we did not even hook a salmon. We saw some bald eagles and a seal during the trip.
I guided an afternoon group of 5 guests, one of whom caught a small king salmon on a #2 Spin-n-glo with Fire Cured salmon roe fished behind a jet diver. That was the only fish we managed to hook. We again saw several eagles and a seal during the trip. Water had submerged the weir and ADF&G had no king salmon weir count.
June 29 — I guided a morning group of 4 guests, 1 of whom caught a king salmon on a #2 Spin-n-glo with Fire Cured salmon roe fished behind a jet diver. We saw some bald eagles during the trip.
I guided an afternoon group of 4 guests, 1 of whom caught a rainbow trout on a #2 Spin-n-glo with Fire Cured salmon roe fished behind a jet diver. The water had cleared up from where it was the past couple days, and there was less debris drifting down river, but the water remained so high that ADF&G’s salmon counting weir was submerged again and there was no complete daily king salmon count.
June 30 — I guided a morning group of 4 guests, 2 of whom caught king salmon on #2 Spin-n-glos with Fire Cured salmon roe fished behind Jet Divers. One of the guests also caught a jack king salmon on the same bait as well. The same guests had a few other bites and fish on. The remaining guests did not even get a good bite. Part way through the day ADF&G managed to get their salmon counting weir back up and operating. We also saw several bald eagles during the trip.
I guided an afternoon group of 2 guests, who had a few bites, but did not manage to hook a king salmon. During the trip we saw several bald eagles and fished several prime locations along the river.
For our next Alaska Fishing Report update — Go to our July 2014 Report Page — I am planning to fish and report again tomorrow — July 1.